3 The technical management of a website



The management of both the structure and functions of a Siteseed developed website is carried out via the back office interface. To enter, all that is needed is a common web browser. We recommend the use of either the Internet Explorer 5 or later or Netscape Navigator 6 or later web browsers, with a screen area of 800x600 pixels or higher.


3.1 Accessing the back office



Access to the back office is achieved via typing into the web browser URL box the following address:

http:// website/bo

Example: Should we wish to enter the website back office for website http://www.revistalog.pt then we should type in the URL:

http://www.revistalog.pt/bo

After entering the back office, the user types in his/her login and password as supplied by the system administrator for the website server. If the login or password is not correct the web browser will ask for the procedure to be repeated.
Should the login and password be correct, the main page of the backoffice will appear as follows:





3.2 The technician interface



The technician interface manages all the technical aspects of the website. From this interface, it is possible to build the entire website structure from its simpler components to the way they are combined to form a web page.


3.2.1 The Sitemaker organisational model



Websites developed based on the Sitemaker technology are made up of two information layers:
1.The visual layer, that is, all the graphic components and the website interfaces.
2.The data structure layer, which comprises all the editorial contents.

The visual layer is divided into various components, e.g.:

1.The article boxes - Definitions for the frames around information contained in the articles;

2.The layouts - Definition of how article contents are rendered on the previously defined boxes.

3.The interface models - The interface structure allows us to define the overall website layout, the visual arrangement of the main structures, navigation bars, the space where contents will be rendered, etc.

4.The forms - All forms for gathering information from visitors is defined in the form edit module. This includes registration, feedback, login, e-mail to friend forms, etc.


The data layer is divided into the following components:

  • The article structure - the article structure defines the number of fields belonging to each article as well as their respective purpose.
  • The subjects structure - the subjects structure is used to classify and arrange the articles. This determines the way articles are searched and grouped togheter for display purposes.
  • The section structure - the section structure, using a tree structure, defines the page organisation and navigation of the website. The main defining characteristics are associated to each section.
  • The staff structure - definition of staff members and their respective levels of access.
  • The user structure - definition of the data structure associated to visitors that have a registration on the web site.


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